1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of playground equipment and, more particularly, to an improved teeter-totter or seesaw.
2. Background
Teeter-totters (also referred to as seesaws) have been popular with children since before recorded history. In its simplest form, a teeter-totter may be constructed by merely placing a board over an object to serve as a fulcrum or pivot. Modern day playground teeter-totters are essentially the same, although the structural members are more typically steel for improved durability. Thus, a typical playground teeter-totter comprises a beam supported off the ground by a horizontal support member. The beam is coupled to the support member with a simple pivot assembly and has a seat mounted at each end thereof. Children in the seats experience generally up-and-down arcuate motion when playing on a teeter-totter.
On a typical teeter-totter, people of different weights have a harder time using the teeter-totter because the teeter-totter acts like a balance, thus causing the heavier person to settle in the lower position wherein they must push off the ground harder to create motion and get the other person down. The heavier person must use leg muscles to push and balance thus straining the legs and taking some of the enjoyment out of the playfulness of a teeter-totter. Some prior art teeter totters have a counter balance spring or weight to counter act the weight of the heavier person.
Gliders, both free-standing and suspended, are also widely popular. Their popularity is largely due to the relaxing back-and-forth motion of the glider. Gliders are not affected by different weights of users because the pivotal support is more stable and balancing. Heretofore, no known apparatus has successfully combined the up-and-down accurate motion of a conventional teeter-totter with the back-and-forth motion of a glider creating a more stable teeter totter that is not as sensitive to users of different weights.